Peer Support in Action

Centrepoint Peer Education Project

by Dan Amoaten

Leaving home represents a major part of the transition to adulthood. It is also the point at which young people under 25 are most vulnerable to homelessness. Centrepoint Education team works with teachers and informal educators to enable young people to understand the realities of independent living and making informed choices about taking this important step.

Recent experience of peer-led leaving home education has shown that young people who have made the transition are the most effective educators about the highs and lows of the leaving home experience. The Peer Education project harnesses young people’s natural preference to talk to each other, rather than to adults, about issues in leaving home education.

The Education team is now two-thirds of the way through a nation wide peer led homelessness prevention programme. To date the programme has reached over 900 young people. The dual benefits of the programme have been in witnessing the learning gained by the young people who attended peer led sessions and also the personal development of the peer educators themselves.

Each group has researched the issues of leaving home and homelessness in their own area and has devised programmes to address their particular issues.

  • In Sandwell young people who have been involved with a homeless and resettlement project are developing a more extensive programme that will feed into the schools, FE colleges, social services, youth forums and housing departments within the local area.
  • In Swindon a group of young women, all residents of a young women’s housing project are using arts based activities to develop the themes of leaving home in local schools and colleges.
  • In London the current group of peer educators have just designed a four-week training programme. The current group of peer educators will take on a mentoring role for young people who wish to join the programme.

Peer education, as a process can be lengthy and is not always easy. Many peer educators have led fairly transient and often chaotic life styles. "One of the greatest challenges is in finding a structure that is flexible enough to deal with crises, but strong enough to allow developmental work... and the purpose to be achieved", says Rona Kennedy, Centrepoint’s peer support worker. However, the on-going evaluation of Centrepoint’s peer education work has proven the programme to be a very effective method of working with young people.

The Peer Education project represents a good opportunity to involve young people in Centrepoint projects in a process of learning, in which they are the experts.

For more information, please contact Dan Amoaten at:

Centrepoint
Education
2nd Floor
Bewlay House
2 Swallow Place
London W1R 7AA
Telephone: 0171 544 5026
E-mail: Danny@centrepoint.org
Fax: 0171 544 5001

What participants from an East London school had to say about the Peer Education workshops...

  • "You included a lot of information about homelessness and changed my views about homeless people. They are just normal people with problems."
  • "Before the session I used to stereotype all homeless people as smelly, drug addicts, trampy and very dirty. Now that I have met real homeless people my views have changed."

What the peer educators had to say about the peer education project...

  1. "The project has meant a lot because it has helped boost my confidence, such as speaking in groups, group-work, individual concentrated work and meeting people. I’ve learnt new skills for further work. Commitment is important. It’s meant a lot that I can do this. I left home very young in an unplanned way. I’m maybe helping some young people not to make the same mistakes."
  2. "My confidence in communicating has improved... problem solving has been a big part of the work and I’ve got better at it. I’ve struggled with Planning-ahead. My big plans often don’t seem to work out - but I’m more willing now to learn from my experiences."

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